Eastern Lariat

Following the episode on the history of Sumo Palace earlier this week, The Eastern Lariat has a quick turnaround and stays on the topic at first with a preview of Pro Wrestling NOAH's double shot in that exact building. What's to be expected from these two shows? Who is X? What's with all the foreign talent coming in? From there, STRIGGA and Dylan take it to GLEAT and their three shows in April that saw Lindaman's first defense of the G-REX Championship. His stablemate T-Hawk is still in the running for the Champion Carnival, which is the 3rd topic on the show. Last, but not least, the Eastern Lariat team looks at New Japan Pro Wrestling following the announcement of the big AEW/NJPW supershow in June. Also Zeus. Zeus is always important.

Dylan hosts a very special historical episode of the Eastern Lariat, joined by his good friend Dr. Jonathan Foye, the author of Ganbaru, the story of how AJPW survived the 2000 NOAH split & his new friend, who happens to be a legendary journalist, who has experience in writing, podcasting, commentating, & working behind the scenes in Japanese wrestling for over 3 decades, Fumi Saito. We discuss many topics on this show centered around Sumo Palace (aka Sumo Hall). We start all the way from the original incarnation of the building nearly 200 years ago to the incarnations of the Kokugikan that followed, then the many big matches and events that took place there over the years and it's recent resurgence over the last month with STARDOM, Zero1, NJPW & NOAH all have or are about to run shows there in the span of a month. Historical content we touch on is too much to list but include:

Rikidozan's start in Sumo Palace and incident with Masahiko Kimura.

NJPW's success in the 80's and Inoki's ways & matches.

The IWGP Title inaugural tournaments.

Tiger Mask(s)!

The famous riots in 1984 & 1987 at the venue.

WWF running in Japan and their interactions with AJPW & NJPW in the early 90's.

Super J Cup and it's legacy among English speaking fans as well as Japanese.

The dark ages of wrestling in Japan in the 2000s and the many companies that ran it over the years.

Thank you for listening to our show and please follow Fumi @fumihikodayo , Dylan @Viva_Zero , Jonathan @JonthanFoye and of course the show @EasternLariat for updates on all things Japanese wrestling, and a new episode with Dylan re-joined by STRIGGA very soon!

Thank you!

The Eastern Lariat is back with another MEGA episode as STRIGGA & Dylan once again cover NINE promotions. At the beginning, they address the horrible injury Shinjiro Otani suffered on ZERO1's anniversary show. From there the Eastern Lariat takes it to all major groups in japanese pro-wrestling as the main focus this time are shows from this past weekend and upcoming cards of which many take place in Yokohama so get on board with the Yokohama Lariat!

After one month Dylan and STRIGGA got back together to discuss the latest in japanese pro-wrestling and as luck would have it, the recording took place on the first day of spring, which is a public holiday in Japan. In celebration of this, The Eastern Lariat crew once more included as many topics as they could to provide a colorful mix of different flavors of Puroresu from Joshi over NOAH and NJPW to DDT and TJPW. Winter is over, the hot season in Puroresu is about to start!

Dylan has a guest! With STRIGGA out doing his thing at wXw's 16 Carat, Dylan is left all alone and he's recruited a friend, and he's a doctor! Dr. Jonathan Foye has risen to prominence in wrestling through writing his book, Ganbaru: How All Japan Pro Wrestling Survived the Year 2000 Roster Split which just so happens to cover the AJPW Year 2000 roster split! And coincidentally we start with AJPW in Year 2022 as we offer speculation on the Champion Carnival and much like Captain Planet, our powers unite to come up with perhaps the worst Japanese wrestling idea ever. From there we go to NJPW and discuss both the 50th Anniversary Show and the New Japan Cup, talking about the day 1 matches and then predict a winner and discuss many things. Finally we briefly touch on Kazuyuki Fujita's GHC Title win to end the show. It's a different style of The Lariat and wherever STRIGGA is, WE DID IT ALL FOR YOU, BUDDY.

Follow the Eastern Lariat on Twitter @EasternLariat and vote on our March Madness polls to determine who had the best year in Japanese wrestling while playing off the more famous College basketball tournament!

Follow @JonathanFoye and let him know how nice him and his work was, tell him Dylan sent ya. And while you're at it, why don't you check out his book, which Dylan reviewed on Patreon and approves of wholeheartedly: https://www.amazon.com/Ganbaru-Japan-Wrestling-Survived-Roster-ebook/dp/B09PRN4NMG

Just for giggles, follow STRIGGA as well and check out his adventures doing cool stuff, occasionally making tasty and oddly healthy food in comparison to his Memphian tag partner, and his experiences at 16 Karat: @STRIGGA

Thank you for listening and supporting The Eastern Lariat and all of Japanese pro wrestling!

NINE PROMOTIONS are in the focus of this episode of the Eastern Lariat! The Eastern Lariat looks at matches, upcoming cards, stories and overall developments in Stardom, NJPW, NOAH, DDT, TJPW, DRAGONGATE, AJPW, BJW and GLEAT. On top of that for each promotion STRIGGA & Dylan give their excitement level. Join in on a comprehensive tour through japanese pro-wrestling!

STRIGGA & Dylan revive the great tradition of drafts on the Eastern Lariat with a special New Year Draft creating to new companies of 25 wrestlers in a very unique setting which in the end led to picks from 11 different companies from all over Japan. While discussing their draft picks, the combatants also talk about some recent shows and matches their picks have been featured in so you'll get both: A fantasy draft and a d look at current events placed in reality!

With Wrestle Kingdom 16 in the books the Eastern Lariat looks back at all the important developments on the first two nights of Wrestle Kingdom in terms of New Japan Pro Wrestling. STRIGGA & Dylan discuss the meaning of Wrestle Kingdom with multiple shows, the excitement level going in, the work on both shows as well as title programs and projections for the future. Another talking point in this context is the question if the first week of January already is too loaded with wrestling shows, because before talking about Wrestle Kingdom, STRIGGA & Dylan also look at TJPW, DDT and Pro Wrestling NOAH.

The beginning of the new year traditionally is one of the busiest times for japanese pro-wrestling, not only because of NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom, but because seemingly every promotion – from small indies to nationwide companies – are running on or around "Ittenyon" as well. This show is about the promotions beyond NJPW. While the second half of the show is completely dedicated to NOAH's new New Year's tradition of running Nippon Budokan, the first half of the show contains discussions about Toshikoshi (New Year's Eve) Pro-Wrestling, Big Japan, ZERO1, STARDOM, Ice Ribbon, All Japan and Kyushu Pro's first ever show in the japanese capital. Join is for this massive New Year Lariat!

Another year is in the books and while 2021 once again was a year of huge challenges, sacrifices, grief and for a lot of us searching a foothold and support, it also was a year that brought us joy, fun, excitement and hope. Pro-Wrestling as an art form is what brings us together and so The Eastern Lariat once more proudly presents the Year End Award 2021. In 14 categories Dylan, STRIGGA and their guest for this episode, Rob, look back at the year in japanese pro-wrestling and highlight their top performers, matches, moments and so much more. From MVP over Show of the Year to Most Underrated and Most Improved, the Eastern Lariat hopes to offer a digest of the best in Puroresu in 2021!